Lots of Little Jobs DONE

I interrupted my morning routine to work on the kids' ILP's for the upcoming year. I KNOW. The summer got away from me - BUT I have 80% of the curriculum we need already. I just need to file the paperwork and order the other 20%. We have an upcoming road trip Outside (as in outside of AK), in our near future. We need to pick up things we left at my brother's home from mom and Mom G. We won't start school until after Labor Day.

Krista, Stacia and Alex ran a couple of errands this morning, then sequestered themselves in the RV (Krista's current living space) to watch a bit of Netflix.

Dad, Michael and I had a nice talk. Eventually, it was time to run errands. I dropped Dad off to get his hair cut. I told him to call when he was done and I'd pick him up. I planned to check out a couple of thrift stores while he had a haircut.  I FORGOT I turned off the phone during our talk. He called and left a message. He called again. Finally, he called Krista's phone. I said, "Why didn't he call me?" Then discovered the phone was off.  😏😃 I'm taking the teasing with grace. I deserve it.

Michael and Alex had done a trash run while we were in town.

I decided to wash my car. It was another beautiful day up here. This spread to washing Michael's truck, Nolan's jeep and Krista's car. The girls got in on the fun. I really do work - I don't just stalk around taking photos.

 See the brown Spruce trees? Spruce trees are everGREEN. Michael put a chain saw yesterday. He and Alex began taking them down today. Alex cuts them on the ground with the smaller chainsaw. It didn't smoke the whole time  - only for the camera.  

  

I volunteered for this job, Michael preferred Alex do it. 

Go, Alex! 

 Alex also beat back some of the "wild" threatening to take over our yard. The red dots show how far out it had advanced. This is not GRASS in there - but at least it feels more open and we CAN walk up there again. I had planted berries in this spot - the moose got em all.  Michael has talked about moving the garden up to this spot....I don't know that I have the heart to dig out another garden. I may put some lasagna beds up here and see how they do.

We are not focusing on the birch leaves turning colors. 

Did I say I could ALWAYS spend more time in the garden? The squash has held it's own against the invasive chickweed. 

I took a moment to try out Stacia's hammock. I stayed a while. 

It's magical. 

Krista brought hers out too. I think I need to get one so we can have reading parties under the birch. 

GG Scores!

GG (Great Grandpa) scored a home-run today. The doorbell rang and he went to get Benny. 

"Benny, come see! Come see the truck."

Benny said, "No."

Arielle picked him up and said, "GG wants to show you something." 

He was AWESTRUCK! 

"Wow."

"Wow!!!"

 What captured Benny's attention? The DUMP TRUCK! GG knew Benny would be fascinated to see a truck like his in action - even as Benny resisted coming to GG. That'll preach!

He froze. He didn't move once during the whole transaction. Arielle said he was so excited he was shaking. We got 10 Cubic yards of gravel for the driveway and 2 cubic yards of pea gravel for under the play structure.....except he brought me a bonus of an extra 1 1/2 yards of pea gravel. I've been wanting to define some flower areas....maybe we'll get to it before winter. 

Stacia began to shovel gravel into the wheelbarrow and Benny was right beside her. 

Benny insisted on carrying the gravel in his shovel too when Arielle and Stacia moved the wheelbarrow to the back . 

Priceless! Benny and his great-grandpa working on a job together. 

These two spent some time playing when the job was done. 

A big day is coming up for both....in just 10 days Stacia turns 14; and Benny's Daddy and Mommy will sign for their first family house (they've had 2 homes, but this will be the first house and the first one they purchase). 

Benny climbed  straight up the rock wall without any assistance from any of us...though we did do a tad bit of hovering. 

Pure joy at his accomplishment! High Fives all around! 

I spent a bit of time weeding in the garden. I will always need more time out there. LOL  I heard rustling. Look at this! Lucille scratching up carrots and eating kale. I had quite a time getting her out. She's getting quite plump.

We harvested a couple of rows of beets. 

The corn is tasseling....we shall see.  Maybe we'll get a few ears yet. 

Beets are pretty. I've never cooked them and haven't liked them, but Michael asked for them. I boiled one and he said it was good. I boiled two more for 10 min, and then skinned them and tossed them in with the other veggies I was roasting for dinner. 

These carrots were also tossed in to the roasting mix...bit of olive oil, garlic, salt...

I was thinning out the carrots and these were big enough to eat - so we did. I also picked some baby red potatoes and a zuchinni to roast.  YUM! I was pointing out everything on the table from the garden...salad, roasted veggies and someone pointed to the chicken and said, "Is this from the garden too?"

"No," I replied, "But if Lucille keeps getting into the garden you may end up with chicken from the garden."  I would never. I couldn't. It was a yummy dinner. We didn't have a single bite left. I was satisfied with the veggies...and they all enjoyed adding the air fried chicken to the mix. LOL

A salad for the chickens - they love all the garden left overs. 

The green tomatoes are starting to ripen. We had visions of making salsa when this started. I don't know what I'll do with them now....I expected to have all the tomatoes at the same time. LOL 

I like the purple carrots. Sweet. 

CHERRIES and a Parky Update

Today was neurology day. We used to hate this day  - which arrives like clockwork every few months It's the day we are forced to accept Michael's diagnosis.  I think we're moving along the acceptance plane, today it all seemed rather, "Hoo hum."  No big, new developments.  They're adjusting some meds at night with the hope of a better sleep pattern for Michael...but that's about it. And we're o.k. with a hoo hum neurology appointment. 🐽 

We redeem neurology days by trying to catch lunch with Josiah while in Anchorage. He suggested Burgerfi today - great choice. I tried an Impossible Burger yesterday  - I overwhelmingly liked Burgerfi's quinoa/veggie burger over the IB. 

Michael pointed out the cherries needed picking as we drove in the driveway. I kept hoping they were going to get bigger and sweeter. It appears they are made to be  tart!  Krista, Benny and I picked the cherry crop. Not bad as we weren't expecting any produce for another 2 - 4 years. 😏

Someone ate a cherry or two while helping

Stacia and I  set out to  make a pie after Michael and Dad made their opinions on cherry usage known.  We only had 1/2 the cherries we needed; I used blueberries for the other half. I made it sugar-free.  Did you catch that? A sugar-free cherry/berry pie! I hoped Michael and Dad would like it.  They did. I am wondering if I can do the same thing with an apple pie.

We were excited the crust worked. AND it tasted great. Next time I'll cover the edges - but for a whole-wheat, sugar-free cherry pie - this couldn't be beat. 

Dad "felt lucky," tonight so we agreed to a round of Farkle. He was pulling ahead until Stacia rolled SIX ONES in a turn. She ended up winning. 

BTW - that's 9:00 p.m. behind her

 HOW can it be August already? I can't wrap my mind around this fact! Oh, Michael bought a chainsaw off Craig's list....he and Dad came home with stories.

Mother's Day in August

Michael suggested a date for he and I after church. I was surprised as I know he's tired and he had preached that morning...but he insisted it was a good time to go on a date. He said Krista could take Dad and the kids out to eat and he and I were going out.

So, we did. Then we meandered along - and I kept saying I wanted to go home for a Sunday nap..... We got home and SURPRISE!!!!

Mother's Day in August

For a family who didn't open Christmas gifts until February - this isn't over-the-top odd. 🐽 We were traveling on Mother's Day.....

There were flowers, gifts, nachos, kids and grand kids.....a good day was had by all....especially me.  This gave the "big boys" a chance to see the new play structure. 🐽

Stacia and Josiah 

 It was also Bella and Gideon's first time to see the structure. They approved. 

Bella likes the slide

 It didn't take long for Gideon to find the rock climbing wall. 

Um...one of these kids is not like the others....

We painted rocks - I need to get better at this. 

Cousins. 

Jamin 

 Benny can't quite figure out why there aren't strawberries here any longer. 😂

Creating masterpieces is serious work. 

Annie and Auntie Arielle

Annie is 6 1/2 months old

 Everyone got started on a game of 500 with the aerobie. 

"I have your wallet and keys, Uncle Jamin." 

What a fun expression....

He had a little help going this high. 

Woman down! 

Krista even made a sugar-free cheesecake. I was heartened to see the texture worked. We all agreed it needed to be a bit sweeter or have a bit more pizzazz...but this is an experiment we can build on. 

She Thinks She's a Cat

She must think she's a cat. There is no telling where Lucille will show up. While some take fun in portraying me as a crazy chicken lady - there are some crazy chicken men around here.  She seems to have claimed the garage. I won't are so much when my exercise equipment is out of there. 😜

Later in the day

"Well HELLO, Lucille." Yuuki did not appreciate her at the doorstep. 

She continues to lay eggs in the brush....we can gather them now.